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07/28/2005 Archived Entry: "New England Chatta"
New England Chatta
By J.D. Vena
Life Can be a beach for the Sandman
Boxing didn’t need the movie Million Dollar Baby to show the world how cruel and unfair the sport can be to some fighters. Most people associate the sport with the “school of hard knocks.” Though he wasn’t dealt the crippling blow that Hilary Swank’s character received toward the end of the film, New Bedford’s Scott “The Sandman” Pemberton (29-3-1, 24 KO’), the WBC’s number one ranked contender for their super middleweight crown, recently learned some inexplicable news. The man he beat two consecutive times over a 12-month period, a man who he savagely KO’d with a picturesque10-punch combination in January of ‘04, will not only be receiving his second world title shot since losing to Pemberton, but will be fighting for the same WBC title Pemberton covets. Can any one make any sense out of this?
Next week Omar Sheika (26-7, 17 KO’s) of Paterson, NJ, the proud Palestinian boxer will enter the ring having lost five of his last eight bouts, twice to Pemberton, to challenge Germany’s three-time champion, Marcus Beyer (32-2, 12 KO’s). Since beating Omar Sheika by knockout and becoming the first man to put Sheika on the canvas, the 38-year old Pemberton has waited patiently for well deserved title shot.
What’s more, it is not even confirmed whether Beyer or Sheika will grant Pemberton the next shot, even should Pemberton defeat the WBC’s number 4-ranked contender, Danny Green, the fearsome punching Aussie down under. In what should be a guaranteed title shot for Pemberton, they’re now making this some kind of round robin tournament. Can the WBC make this any more difficult for Pemberton? Why not have Pemberton fight Jean-Marc Mormeck to qualify?
While Pemberton’s window of opportunity gets more and more clouded, he has had to mull the following options. He could wait until March and hope that Los Banditos don’t remove his status from inactivity. He could fight a tune-up for a buck and a hook shot and risk losing. He could have waited to see if Beyer’s people bite at the $500,000 offer they made him to fight Pemberton on U.S. soil or Pemberton could fight other top fighters for $35,000. The opponent Pemberton accepted was the hand-punching Green (20-2, 19 KO’s), who has come up short twice in his attempts to wrest the WBC title from Beyer.
“It’s a bunch of bull,” Pemberton told the CBZ of his current situation. “What really gets me is the fact that Sheika is only fighting for $37,000, which he’s not going to make even a third of after German taxes. He could have fought me in Vegas for $150,000. We’re in this game to make some money so that we don’t hang around too long and get our heads beat in. I think Omar really just cares about becoming the first Palestinian fighter to win a world title. Hey, I hope he wins so we could make more money fighting each other over here.”
Should Sheika win the title from Beyer a third fight with Pemberton would make the most sense in terms of making money and redeeming two of his most heartbreaking of losses. Sheika had Pemberton hurt and down and each of their two wars, both of which were voted by ESPN panelists as the network’s fight of the year in 2003 and 2004.
Winning a world title is also important for Pemberton as well but should he get by Green in October, he will be 39 years old when he finally challenges for the title. The clock is ticking for Pemberton just as it does with any athlete. What’s most important for Pemberton are what would be what anyone would cherish the most.
“I’m fighting to make enough money to buy a home for my soon to be wife and kids,” admitted Pemberton. “My daughter is 3 ½ right now and I never knew you could love something this much. My main concern is to get by Danny Green so that I can provide for my family.”
“I’m going to make the most of this going to Australia (to fight Green),” said Pemberton. “How many Americans get the opportunity to go to Florida once in their lifetime let alone Australia? It’s going to be a good experience but make no mistake, I’m going down there and I’m going to win.”
That’s all any self-respecting boxer hope for at this point in their career. But if eventually meeting Beyer in the ring at some point doesn’t solve Pemberton’s woes maybe the Beyer found in the medicine cabinets will.
After seeing Rodney Toney’s return to the ring on June 3rd, an impressive knockout win over Philadelphia’s Jameel Wilson at the IBEW Hall in Dorchester, I got the impression that the tough Boston slugger could make some noise in the super-middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. When he needed to box, he boxed, when he needed to show some aggression and go to the body, he went downstairs and when he wanted to land the money shot, he through an explosive right hand which put his tough opponent down for the count.
Toney (27-4-4, 17 KO’s), who can do everything in the ring well, showed certain promise early on in his career, drawing with eventual champions, William Joppy and Silvio Branco. He also was the last man to defeat Charles Brewer before The Hatchet went on to win a world title and remained of the top fighters at super middleweight for years. Then Toney lost three in row to fellow contenders and fell into obscurity. So he did what most fighters do when they’re down – he took some time off.
Sometimes, all a boxer needs is some time off and to build his confidence back up. It’s what helped other boxers like Zack Padilla and Micky Ward. Though his June bout, his first in over two years shook off some of the ring rust, it will be surprising if he’ll he ready for someone the caliber of James Lubwama, otherwise known as the African Express. Tomorrow night, Toney faces Lubwama on ESPN2’s Friday night fights at Brockton’s Campenelli Stadium. Lubwama, 16-2-2 with 9 KO’s, isn’t the most dangerous of fighters, but he’s been active and successful against B-level fighters over the past few years.
Should Toney enjoy the same success he had against Wilson, then his cousin James shouldn’t be the only Toney we should have a close eye on. Toney-Lubwama is a headliner for Rich Cappiello’s outdoor show at Campanelli Stadium, which will be broadcast on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights. Also appearing on the show are promising New England prospects Mike Oliver (8-0, 4 KO’s) of Hartford and “Nasty” Nick Morganelli (5-0, 3 KO’s) who will square off in separate bouts. Morganelli’s younger brother Mike is also slated to debut. For ticket information phone 800-866-2828.
Replies: 1 Comment made on this article
Good for Scott, too bad about the situation. One word of caution: Austrailia is literally a world away. I beleive that Scotty can beat Green, but he needs to be prepared. He needs to get there WEEKS early to get adjusted to the environment, time changes, ect.. I am always leery of American fighters who tak fights overseas and don't get there with enough time to adjust.
Posted by Jay Barr @ 07/31/2005 01:28 AM EST
